Growing Up, Falling In
by SillyKwado
Summary: Arthur met Alfred on the playground when they were toddlers and became fast friends, but who knew they would become best friends despite their 3-year age gap? Unfortunately, that age gap was bigger than they thought and would cause them more problems as they grew older and changed to fit in with the crowd of their class. Will their long friendship overcome it all? AU! some USUK


Little 5-year-old Arthur was bored. He's been to this park hundreds of times and it was never fun. None of the other kids wanted to play with him and his brothers only took him here to give him something to do.

He walked along the edge of the playground for a while, watching the other kids have fun. It just wasn't fair. Why couldn't he have a friend too? He didn't like talking to people he didn't know though. His mum said he was shy.

Suddenly, a smaller body barreled into him knocking them both to the ground.

"Hey! Watch out next time!" Arthur yelled at the smaller boy as he got to his feet and brushed himself off.

The other boy just looked up at him and smiled gummily.

"Hi! I'm Alfwed! I'm two!" "Alfwed" said happily and help up two pudgy fingers.

"Uh... Hullo Alfred. My name's Arthur Kirkland," Arthur responded formally just as his mother taught him with only the slightest bit of hesitation.

"Play wit me Artie!" Alfred squealed and he grabbed Arthur's hand to drag him off to the other side of the playground.

Arthur made a sound of protest but otherwise didn't say anything. He obviously could've escaped the two-year-old's small grasp at any time, but he was bored. Besides, Arthur had wanted somebody to play with after all, so maybe he'll play with him for a bit until he got bored again.

Alfred dragged him over to the sand pit and Arthur groaned. He hated sand. It gets everywhere and then he gets in trouble by his mum.

Alfred ran ahead into the square, squealing happily, until he realized his new friend wasn't with him. He looked around confused and disappointed before finding Arthur standing by the edge. His face brightened.

"Artie! C'mon! Play!" Alfred said running around a bit more.

"Em... No thanks," Arthur responded back while eyeing the sand distrustfully. Alfred pouted.

"Artie! Play it's fun!" He bent down and cupped some sand in his hands which spilled out through the cracks of his fingers. He toddled over to Arthur as if to show him that the sand was harmless. He giggled as all the sand left his hands. "See?"

"Yes, I saw," Arthur said. "You can play but I don't want to." Alfred pouted again and tears started welling up in his eyes.

"A-Artie...!" Alfred hiccupped and Arthur sighed. He will regret this, won't he?

"Alright, alright. I'll play with you," Arthur gave in, stepping into the box. Alfred's face brightened once again and he ran around the sandbox.

Arthur grimaced as his feet sunk into the sand. His mum was going to be so angry at him for ruining his new shoes.

"Artie!" Alfred squealed taking more sand his hands and throwing them up into the air. Arthur coughed from the sand cloud and squatted down to play with the sand.

He began to make a mound and a trench around it. It was a difficult task since the sand kept falling down. Alfred came over and sat down next to him watching what he was doing curiously.

"What's that?" Alfred asked loudly. It was as if he didn't know how to lower his voice.

"It's a castle," Arthur replied. He pointed to the trench. "That's the river guarding it, it's filled with lava and per- piran- bad fish." Then he pointed to the mound. "And that's the castle. The king and queen live there with a unicorn."

Alfred gasped happily and clapped his hands. "You da king?"

Arthur puffed out his chest in pride. "Yep, sure am!"

"Yay! And I da queen!" Alfred squealed.

"But queens are supposed to be girls! You're not a girl!"

Alfred pouted. "No! I queen!"

Arthur sighed. "Fine, you can be the queen..."

"Yay!"

"But you need a crown!" Arthur said, getting up and brushing off the sand on his pants. He looked around for a bit and before running out of the sandbox. Alfred followed along after his friend, trying to keep up with Arthur's longer legs.

Arthur couldn't find anything that looked like a crown, so he did the next best thing. He picked some dandelions from the ground that had long stems and were the biggest. Then he tried tying them together to make a crown. Meanwhile, Alfred copied Arthur in picking the flowers. Soon he had a whole bundle in his hands.

"There we go!" Arthur said, finishing the crown. Then he plopped it on top of Alfred's head. "Now you're the queen!"

Alfred giggled and held out his bundle of sad-looking dandelions to Arthur. Arthur bashfully took them with a thank you.

"Alfred!" A woman's voice shouted from across the playground. Arthur looked over to see Alfred's mom holding another boy in her arms that looked exactly like Alfred. "C'mon! Let's go!"

Alfred took off to his mother but not before yelling goodbye to Arthur, his new friend, and giving him a hug.

Arthur did get in trouble by his mum for getting his clothes dirty but he didn't care. He made a new friend after all!

* * *

><p>The two boys quickly became inseparable. They both went to the same elementary school and, although they were in different classes (6th and 3rd), they always hung out whenever they could. They would go over to each other's houses all the time to play videogames and run in the backyard. Sometimes Arthur even went over to swim at the Jones' house since they had a pool.<p>

Matthew, Alfred's twin brother, liked Arthur too. Arthur could easily tell the differences between the two twins, even if he did sometimes forget Matthew's name.

Arthur was Alfred's hero. He was the coolest guy ever! He knew everything and was older too! Sometimes the other 6th graders didn't like it when Alfred hung out with them and they'd tease Arthur for it. But Arthur was so cool and told them to "sod off!" Alfred didn't know what that meant but it was probably something super cool in British!

The best friends were in Arthur's room playing videogames and Arthur won the game… again. Alfred sighed and flopped down on his back on Arthur's bed.

"I'm bored! Let's do something else!" Alfred whined loudly.

"Like what?" Arthur said, turning off the game system.

"I don't know... Let's go outside or something..."

Arthur looked out the window. "It's raining. I'm not going outside."

"Party pooper."

Arthur glared and crossed his arms. "You can go outside and get sick, but I'm not going to!"

Alfred sat up on his elbows and looked at his older friend with an apologetic smile. "C'mon Artie, I was kidding. But I really am bored. We've been playing videogames for hours!"

Arthur looked at the clock by his bed and raised an eyebrow. "It's only been one hour..."

"Exactly! I can't sit still! I want to get out of this room!"

"Well..." Arthur started thinking of an idea. "We could go to Alistair's room..."

This got Alfred's attention as he was fully sitting up now and looking at Arthur with wide eyes. "Why?"

"He never lets me go in so I think he's hiding something in there," Arthur explained.

"Really!?" Then Alfred lowered his voice to a loud, conspiring whisper. "What do you think he's hiding? A body? Is he a villain?"

Arthur shrugged and sat down next to Alfred on the bed. "Maybe, Alistair's always coming home late at night and gets into arguments with mum a lot. And I know mum is good."

Alfred gasped. "So he is bad!"

Arthur smiled at his friend mischievously. "So... You wanna check it out?"

"Yes!" Alfred jumped up and ran to the door.

"Alfie wait!" Arthur said quickly. Alfred looked at him confused. "We can't just barge into his secret base without protection," Arthur explained.

Alfred's eyes widened. "Right! We need a cape!"

Arthur nodded and jumped off the bed to go to his closet. He pulled out two beach towels off the top shelf to use as capes and then he grabbed his plastic wand off of his computer desk.

"Here's your cape," Said Arthur as he handed the younger boy a blue and purple beach towel.

"Where's my weapon?" Alfred pouted as he eyed Arthur's wand.

Arthur tied the "cape" around their necks. "You have super strength don't you? You don't need a weapon."

"Oh yeah!" Alfred smiled. "Ready?"

Arthur nodded and slowly opened the room door as he whispered, "But let me go first. I know the layout of this evil place..." Alfred nodded seriously.

Arthur tiptoed down the hall with Alfred following closely behind. Every now and then, Alfred would look behind him to see if they were being followed.

When they got to Alistair's room, Arthur reached forward and began to slowly turn to knob.

"Careful!" whispered Alfred right into Arthur's ear causing him to jump.

"Alfie!" he said gasped. "You scared me! Back up!"

"Sorry…"

Arthur shook his head and quietly opened the door. He peeked in real quick to scope it out, but found no sign of his eldest brother.

"Okay, he's not here. Let's hurry," Arthur told Alfred who nodded enthusiastically.

They walked into his room, eyeing everything suspiciously. Who knows? The room could have hundreds – thousands – of traps!

"Artie! Let's check out the closet first!" said Alfred forgetting that they were supposed to be whispering, and ran over to the closet to yank it open. "Nope, no bodies," he said disappointedly.

"Alfie, what's that?" Arthur asked coming up next to him and pointing to some papers and magazines at the bottom of the closet.

"I don't know… maybe it's one of his evil plans!" Alfred bent down and picked one up only to scream "Ew!" and fling it across the room.

"Hey, careful with that! We'll get in trouble!" Arthur said as he went over to the magazine and picked it up. The cover had a girl on it… who was almost naked! Arthur made a face. It was weird. Wouldn't she get cold? But otherwise, he didn't see much wrong with it.

"What's wrong with it? You don't like girls?" Arthur asked Alfred.

Alfred stuck out his tongue. "No! They have cooties! Do you like girls?"

Arthur paused for a moment and thought about the girls in his class. They were annoying and loud and not fun at all. "No… I suppose not."

"Hey! Wha' are ye doin' in here!?" bellowed the voice of Alistair right behind them. Alfred and Arthur looked up at the tall highschooler with wide, afraid eyes. "Gae outta my room, ya brats!"

Alfred screamed. "Run! Artie! The bad guy's back and he's gonna kill us!"

The two boys ran back to Arthur's room (the "secret base"), screaming the whole way down the hall.

When they got to Arthur's room, they slammed the door shut and looked at each other with wide eyes as they gasped for breath. Then, after a few long moments, they burst into laughter.

When they finally stopped to breathe, they were both laying on their backs, side-by-side, staring up at the ceiling. Alfred, never one for keeping quiet, broke the silence first by saying, "You're the best Artie… We'll be friends forever!"

Arthur smiled. "Yeah."

* * *

><p>As they grew older still, they also changed. But Arthur had changed the most. Yes, he was still the older boy Alfred looked up to. He was still smart about everything, nice, Alfred's best friend, and always hung out with him. Well, not always actually. He has his new friends from middle school and especially now at his freshman year of highschool.<p>

Alfred has never felt so far apart from his best friend. He was still in elementary school; in 6th grade. He couldn't wait until he was a freshman so he could be in the same school as Arthur again!

But Arthur was different now. Sure, he was nice to Alfred, but the older boy got into fights a lot. He wore a lot of black and tight clothing, he had green streaks in his longer hair, 3 piercings, and he even got a tattoo even though he wasn't allowed to! (He made Alfred swear not to tell anyone.)

He was starting to act like a villain from one of Alfred's comics, so of course Arthur was a bit worried for his friend. But what could he do? Arthur's in highschool. He's older and so he obviously knows what he doing.

But, even though he's older, Alfred felt strangely protective over his friend. He didn't like seeing Arthur get close to other people, it made him feel sick and angry at the same time. Once, Arthur told Alfred about this girl he kissed and how much he liked her. He looked so proud that Alfred didn't feel right about making the nasty face he wanted to. He still thought girls were gross.

Today, Arthur said he couldn't hang out with Alfred. He said he had to do a project for a class, an important highschool one. Even though today was Friday and they always hung out on Friday. But the project sounded important to Arthur so Alfred said it was okay. They could always hang out the next day! Arthur still looked unsure but that's probably because he was worried about the project.

So, Alfred decided to go to the park next to his house. He was bored and the neighborhood was safe. Besides, he was learning judo anyway so he could protect himself.

There weren't very many other kids there but Alfred thought that he'd just swing on the swings until somebody else came to play that was close to his age. He got on his stomach on the swing and got a running start to take off in the air. He closed his eyes and stretched out his arms, pretending that he was Ironman flying in his suit.

Then he heard laughter. Alfred stopped his swinging and opened his eyes to look around. He didn't think anybody else was here.

He got off the swing and wandered in the direction of the laughter. He rounded the corner of the building right next to the park and found a group of older boys way taller than the 12-year-old. They looked like they were up to something bad because they were in the shadows and smoking.

Alfred would never admit it because he was a hero (or he will be when he grows up) but he was scared. These people were definitely bad guys!

Then he saw him. Arthur! He was in the group talking with them too. Alfred smiled relieved. So they must not be that bad if Arthur was hanging out with them!

"Artie!" Alfred yelled running over to the group. Arthur's eyes widened as he spotted Alfred. He must've been really surprised to see him huh?

"Alfie?" Arthur asked blinking unsurely between the 6th grader and his friends who were now snickering.

Alfred ran up to them and said, "Hi Artie! Did ya finish your project already?"

"Yeah, 'Artie'. How's the project goin'?" One of the other boys teased. Alfred decided that he didn't like him very much.

Arthur glared at the other boy and gave him the finger as he said, "Fuck off. Don't call me that."

The others laughed but Arthur ignored them as he pushed Alfred away from the group. Then, he bent down to Alfred's level with a sigh.

"Artie, what's wrong? Wanna play?"

"Alfred..." Alfred's eyes widened. Arthur's never called him that before! "I'm sorry but I can't play. See those guys? They think it's weird if I hang out with you."

"So?" Alfred pouted and crossed his arms stubbornly.

"So, I can't hang out with you outside anymore. We can hang out at home tomorrow."

"I guess..." Alfred sulked before coming up with a great idea. "Well, why can't I hang out with you guys? I'll be good promise!"

Arthur shook his head. "You can't. You're too little to play our games."

"C'mon Artie!" Alfred yelled causing Arthur's friends to hear and snicker. Arthur's face darkened.

"Don't call me that in front of other people. Alfred, just... go home."

Alfred's face fell. Arthur didn't want to hang out with him anymore? Because of his new friends? In that moment, Alfred hated them.

He nodded and looked down at his shoes. He wouldn't cry, especially not in front of Arthur and his _friends_.

He turned around and slowly walked home. He didn't want to play anymore, he just wanted to play with his best friend.

As promised, Arthur did come over to hang out with Alfred the next day. So Arthur was still his friend after all! But Alfred made a vow to himself anyway to hurry and grow up, so he can be in highschool too and be Arthur's best friend again.

* * *

><p>By nature, Alfred was not patient. It was obvious just from looking at him. So, the next three years or so were absolute torture for the active boy.<p>

But! All the waiting finally paid off! Today was his very first day of highschool!

Alfred was practically vibrating at the breakfast table. He couldn't wait to be in the same school as Arthur again! Plus, Alfred was 15 now. Maybe, he could finally ask Arthur out on date. Alfred blushed deeply at the thought.

Alfred learned that he had a crush on the older boy a few years ago when he was in middle school. He wasn't what exactly tipped him off to the fact, but he just realized one day that he liked Arthur a little more than a friend. Of course, Alfred was not going to tell him. Alfred was a nerdy, awkward boy. He had big, square glasses, little-to-no social skills, a bit over-weight, and his face decided that that would be a great place to raise an army of acne.

But here he was – standing in the lobby of the highschool. He smiled to himself. This will be a piece a cake... once he found Arthur. Arthur was no longer that punk boy from freshman year, but instead he grew into a fine senior. He was serious about his studies and a bit of a stuck up, but he was still Alfred's friend. Apparently, Arthur was even the senior class president now! Alfred was so proud for his friend! The younger boy didn't know what caused this change in the first place though and whenever he asked Arthur, the Brit would change the subject. Alfred never pressed for more.

Alfred assumed he'd find the hard-working boy in the student council room, so after getting directions from a teacher in the hall, he headed that way. He hadn't even gotten to the door yet when he heard Arthur's still-accented voice yelling from the room. Alfred peeked in with a grin and found Arthur glaring, with his arms crossed, at a long-haired, blond boy in front of him.

"You bloody idiot!" Arthur cried. "I _cannot_ believe you forgot to put up those damned posters, Francis! We needed them to be up last week!"

"Mon ami," Francis answered. "I was, ah, busy."

"I'm sure you were," Arthur scoffed.

"Kesesese! He was! We made sure of it, right Toni?" said a loud white-haired boy, strolling right past Alfred and into the room, along with another boy behind him who smiled a bit at Alfred and replied to his friend with a "¡Sí!"

Arthur's look turned even darker. "You two," he growled. "What are you two doing here? You're not even apart of the student council! Get out!"

"You're kicking out your fellow students out of the student council room? Is that even allowed?" Gilbert asked cheekily.

"Besides, Francis is the V.P. and that's why we're here," Antonio replied, wrapping an arm around his two friends' shoulders.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Fine, whatever. So long as you put up these posters-" He gestured to a stack of posters on the desk. –"by _today_."

Francis pouted but before he could say anything Antonio cut in with a "You know there's someone standing at the door, no?"

Alfred jumped when he realized he'd been found out and the four people in the room looked at the door. Alfred peeked his head with a sheepish smile. "Hi, Artie."

Arthur's look softened a bit. "It's Arthur. Don't call me 'Artie'," he corrected with an eye roll. "What can I help you with, Alfred?"

Alfred stepped in the room and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I was wondering if you were busy and-"

"Of course, I'm busy," Arthur cut in. "It's the first day of school and nothing's done!"

"Right…" Alfred trailed off. "Well, maybe we can catch up later because I also wanted to talk to ya about something kind of important…" He blushed lightly as his heart pounded furiously.

"Alfred," Arthur sighed exasperatedly. "I don't have time to deal with your shenanigans. Please, just go and find your own friends."

"But... you're my friend, Artie."

"Then, make some friends! And I told you not to call me that," Arthur said with a glare. Alfred flinched slightly.

"Alright…" Alfred started awkwardly. "Um, well, I'll see ya around then?"

"Sure, sure," Arthur said with an eye roll. The other boys snickered.

"Okay," Alfred whispered as he walked out of the room embarrassed and dejected.

As he slowly walked away, he overheard Francis say "So, who was that?"

"He was nobody," Arthur answered without hesitation.

"Nobody huh? Was he, perhaps, a 'special friend', hm?" The other boys snickered.

"I don't know what you're implying frog, but don't. He's like an annoying younger brother to me. I've known him forever. That's all."

Alfred couldn't help the tears that fell down his face as he ran into the bathroom and locked himself in the stall for the entire first period. Somehow, they had grown further apart than Alfred realized. It hurt so much, especially after he had his hopes up so high. But the truth was there and it settled over Alfred like bucket of ice water was dumped on his head.

Arthur was no longer his friend.

* * *

><p>Arthur wasn't sure how it happened. Somewhere along the years, he and Alfred fell out of their friendship. He suspected it probably started in highschool when he hung out with those troublemakers and sketchy groups, but even then they still saw each other every week. And Alfred never complained when Arthur would have to take a secret smoke break for a few minutes behind the house.<p>

It probably mostly due to when Alfred got into highschool as well. The younger made his own friends, and their "best friend Fridays" stopped. Arthur bit his lip in guilt. He knew it was originally his fault anyway, but he loathed to admit it. Ever since Alfred got into middle school and then eventually highschool, Arthur realized he was developing romantic feelings for the younger boy. But it was wrong and Arthur couldn't live with it. So, he pushed away Alfred under the half-truth that he didn't want to be seen with a little kid still, but in doing that, he unknowingly pushed away his only best friend. Those "friends" that he made in highschool were never really his friends. They were only a cover-up for Arthur, and now he lost Alfred.

But that was several years ago.

Even though, Arthur goes home for the long break every now and then, he hasn't heard a thing about Alfred. Arthur had no idea how he was doing. Did he like highschool? Was he doing well? Was he fitting in? Did he even know to stay away from Honors Sophomore English because it was near impossible to pass?

And what about now? Arthur supposed he must be in university by now, surely. He obviously wasn't going to become a superhero like he was saying for a long time, but Arthur wasn't even sure what other options he had considered… that's how far apart they drifted.

Arthur sighed. Why the hell was he thinking about him again? He should be concentrating on his homework. He was in his fifth and last year of university. Yes, he was a super-senior, but that's because he was a double major in Public Relations and Business. But the work for those classes wasn't the problem.

The problem was this blasted core class that he's re-taking because he failed it last year. Why did he have to choose astronomy? What _ever_ made him think that he'd be good in it!? He always did a piss-poor job in science classes! Sure, he was fairly good at math, but the math in those blasted astronomy courses never made any sense!

He groaned and rubbed his head furiously with his hands. God, he was going to fail again wasn't he?

He had hoped that by going to the library and sitting near the astronomy section, it would let his brain absorb something from those books to help him… well, it sounded better in his head. He was desperate!

He groaned again louder and set his head on the desk in defeat. He gave up. This was the end for him.

"Hey, you look like you could use some help?"

Arthur looked up to make some sarcastic, snappy comment back at the poor soul who kindly offered their help, but it promptly died on his lips when he looked at the guy.

He was tall and very well-built. He had sky blue eyes behind square glasses and wheat blond hair with a cowlick that stood straight up.

It was Alfred.

And he hot.

Damnit.

Arthur froze with his mouth open as he sat there gaping at his childhood best friend. The adorable boy had grown into a fine man, and Arthur never even knew.

Alfred had frozen too when they locked wide eyes together. For a long time, neither man so much as blinked, before Alfred looked away. He looked conflicted about something… well obviously! Arthur wasn't exactly the greatest friend he could've had.

Alfred took a deep breath before saying, without looking Arthur in the eye, "My offer still stands, y'know."

That snapped Arthur out of it. "Er… wut?" Sort of...

Alfred gave a small, awkward smile and nodded to Arthur's open textbook. "Astronomy 150 right? I can probably help ya if you need it."

Arthur looked down stupidly at his book and said, "Oh… right. Yeah, probably could use the, uh, help."

Alfred grabbed the chair next to Arthur and sat down and took the book from Arthur. He explained the lesson that Arthur was currently learning at a wonderfully slow pace. Unfortunately, Arthur still didn't understand. Alfred just chuckled a bit before doing it again.

Alfred was an amazing teacher. Sure, there were parts that Arthur still didn't understand but he understood most of it now.

Finally, Alfred stretched his arms way above his head revealing a cute strip of skin on his stomach. Arthur blushed and looked away.

"Well, I think it's time for a break. What do you think, Arthur?"

Arthur's heart sunk. Why did he assume, after all this time, that Alfred would still use his old nickname? "Ah, sure."

They gathered their things and walked to the cafeteria together.

"Y'know, I thought you would've graduated by now," Alfred wondered aloud, breaking the awkward silence.

"Yes, well, it's pretty hard to graduate on time with a double major. And besides, I have to pass astronomy, don't I?" Arthur said with a smirk in Alfred's direction.

Alfred laughed a bit. "Yeah, that's true. Wow, a double major huh? In what?" He said with a curious, raised eyebrow in Arthur's direction.

"Public relations and business."

Alfred whistled. "That's something. But I always knew you'd make a great leader." He shot a genuine smile to Arthur, but the super-senior just snorted in response.

"Yeah, some great leader I've been," he scoffed to himself. "So, what are you studying, Alfred?"

"What? You mean it's not obvious?" Alfred teased. "Astronomy."

Arthur rolled his eyes. Of course. "It figures you would be in astronomy. You always did like to pretend you could fly."

Alfred smiled softly as he thought back to those memories. "Yeah… it was the best superpower ever. Right next to super strength of course. Not sure which one I'd rather have…"

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "What's so great about it? You punch things."

"Yeah, but think of all the cool stuff you could do. You could lift a bus off of someone, move a boulder, or even chuck somebody twice your size across the parking lot." Arthur laughed slightly at that.

"What about you?" Alfred continued. "Always using your magic wand thing… I think you were OP'ed* half the time honestly."

"As if," Arthur scoffed teasingly. "Magic was a delicate source of power. It had an intricate design and only specific people could ever wield such a dangerous artifact. Much more harder to control than silly super strength or flying."

"Please, I distinctly remember you always cancelling out my super powers. You never had any trouble doing whatever you wanted when you waved that thing around."

"Well of course!" Arthur defended. "Your powers were caused by radiation. All I needed to do was block the radiation in your blood thus causing you to be temporarily powerless. Whereas, on the other hand, I was a Grand Master Chief Wizard of the Unicorns – the most powerful wizard in the world. Of course, all I needed to do was wave my wand!"

"Sounds like a bunch of bullshit to me," Alfred chuckled. "I don't think you're the Grand Master Unicorn- whatever anymore. I think the unicorns have moved on." Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, right. They had a statue erected in my honour, forever praising me and remembering my name – Arthur Kirkland, the greatest Grand Master Chief Ma- uh… bugger. Well, you bloody get it. I'm still important."

"Right… and, you still practice magic?"

"Everyday." The two looked at each other with such a look of seriousness that they couldn't help but burst out laughing a few seconds later.

"What… the… bloody hell?" Arthur gasped out, wiping tears in his eyes. The two boys were holding onto each other for support as they both tried to catch their breath.

"I don't know… but that was awesome!" Alfred laughed a little again.

After their laughing fit, they looked at each other with matching smiles, and Arthur realized how much he truly missed his best friend. He never realized how lonely he actually was until now.

Arthur's smile softened. "I missed you."

Alfred's face turned more serious and he looked away for a bit.

It was now or never. He _needed_ to continue. "I… I was a right prick. I didn't even know what I had in front of me until I lost it… lost you. You were my greatest friend. And I'll be lying if I said I had even come close to filling that role with someone else."

Alfred looked up at him, but still didn't say anything. Arthur licked his lips and continued, "I know there was no excuse for what I did to you. Age should have never mattered, yet it did. In the end? Turned out it really didn't matter, but I learned that too late. That's still not an excuse, but if you're willing to give me a chance… we could give it another shot?

"Arthur," Alfred started. "You were right though. It took me some time to realize, but I finally made friends within my class. Besides, I could've been a better friend too – always demanding your attention and what not. I never noticed how tired you were of babysitting me."

Arthur shook his head. "That was never it! I loved being with you, Alfred. You were my best friend. There was nobody I would have rather hung out with, but I was too idiotic to realize that. And before I knew it, I had pushed you away."

"Arthur…" Alfred tailed off, not quite knowing what to say.

The two stood there for a long time in silence, not looking at each other. Then finally, Alfred sighed and chuckled. "Well, like ya said, whaddya say to a restart? I think you're still a pretty cool guy, _Artie_." Arthur blushed and rolled his eyes.

"And you're still cute… I suppose… _Alfie_," Arthur said with a bit of teasing sarcasm, to which Alfred just laughed at. He quickly enveloped his new old-best friend in a hug, which Arthur returned (although he'll furiously deny it later on).

They pulled away from the hug slightly to stare into each other's familiar eyes. Then Alfred leaned down slightly, to gently brush his lips against Arthur's. Arthur, at first, stiffened and then he relaxed into the kiss.

Arthur had kissed before of course, but nothing will ever compare to sharing one with his best friend.

When Alfred finally pulled away, he looked at Arthur a moment before saying, "I've always wanted to do that."

"In all honestly," Arthur started with a smile. "Me too."

* * *

><p>*OP'ed = Over Powered<p>

* * *

><p>AN

Interpret the title however you want to… there's multiple meanings to it :P

So, the ending turned out completely different than expected… not sure if I like it still though quite honestly. Plus, it turned out not quite as fluffy usuk like I wanted... oh well.

Sorry that the fourth "highschool" part was a bit dramatic/angsty. I was listening to "Marble House" by The Knife almost the entire time I wrote it. It's a great song! :P (you can thank Midnight Run inthe Rain for that ;D)… thinking back on it, it probably wasn't the best song to listen to if you're intending to write fluffy romance…

Btw, I'm currently writing quite a few DenNors… *hands over fortune cookie* "So expect DenNor in your future!"

Waterloo… the new chapter hasn't even been started on… *cough* I forgot xD *cough*  
>sorry guys….<p>

Anyways! Hoped you liked this! I came up with this idea right before I drank for the first time so it's probably good thing that I quickly wrote it down huh? xD But sorry it wasn't as great as I thought it would be lol

Hope you liked it! Tell me what you think! :D


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